ISLAMABAD: Officials on Monday informed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the 8070 Ramadan relief package that Rs5,000 each has been deposited in 2.8 million eligible accounts and 683,000 of them have withdrawn the money.
The prime minister was on a visit to the National Telecommunication Corporation headquarters in Islamabad to monitor the implementation of the program. He reviewed the live monitoring system.
On March 1, Prime Minister Shehbaz launched the financial assistance relief package that will cover 4 million households, about 20 million people. Under the plan, financial assistance of Rs5,000 per family is being provided through digital wallets.
This was a major shift from the digital wallet by the Utility Stores Corporation, which covered eligible families from all provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has set up an 8070-registration online platform. Users can get complete details about the project here.
Officials added that more than 60 people were serving at the call centre. IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said that out of the 689,000 calls received so far, at least 522,000 complaints were addressed through the automated IVR system and the remaining 90,000 through call agents.
While the prime minister acknowledged the percentage of accounts, he was not satisfied with the withdrawal ratio. “There is a big gap between distribution and withdrawal, which shows the lack of awareness among the people,” he said and called for a review of the awareness campaign on the Rs20 billion relief package.
He added that the verification system is “a key component of the programme”, which ensures immediate correction of any errors.
Prime Minister Shehbaz urged the public to call the program’s helpline 9999 to receive their financial assistance without delay.
